Documents of the Archival Criminal Case of Historian Vyacheslav Zaikyn as a Source for the Study of His Biography

The study is devoted to the analysis of the documents of the criminal case of historian Vyacheslav Zaikyn, which is stored in the Sectoral State Archives of the Security Service of Ukraine. The aim of the publication is the elucidation of previously unknown pages of V. Zaikyn's biography as of a victim of the bloody «Sovietization» of Galicia, through the prism of the analysis of his environment, professional activity and the introduction of new information from the investigative case into the scientifi c circulation for a more complete construction of the life history and intellectual biography of the historian. The methodology of the research is based on the strategy of biographical studies, prosopography and comparative studies, which allow combining diff erent factual layers, in particular archival sources, to construct an intellectual biography of the historian. The scientifi c novelty of the work lies in the actualization of previously uninvolved into the scientifi c use sources and the reproduction of unknown stories from V. Zaikyn's life on their basis, as the biography of this repressed historian-intellectual is still little clarifi ed in historiography. During the research, the scientifi c value of the documents of the criminal case was determined, the submitted information was compared with the facts given in other sources and investigation. The prospect of further research is based on the elucidation of the biographical portrait of V. Zaikyn through the prism of his epistolary and scientifi c achievements. The study of Zaikyn's connection with the emigrant environment is also relevant for future investigations. Conclusions. The materials of the archival criminal case of V. Zaikyn have signifi cant source value for the reproduction of the biography of the scientist. Analysis of information from case documents made it possible to clarify a number of unknown facts from diff erent periods of his life, during the revolution of 1917–1921, as well as in emigration, to determine the specifi cs of accusations, to highlight important prosopographic information, to supplement the information about the circle of communication and personal contacts of the scientist. Interrogation records recorded important information about V. Zaikyn's family and circle of friends. In addition, the case materials are important evidence of the repressive policy of the Soviet government towards the Ukrainian scientifi c intelligentsia.